Of The Three Coaching Giants, Do You Pick Mike Krzyzewski, Bill Belichick Or Nick Saban?

While Mike Krzyzewski continued his coaching farewell to college basketball Saturday night at home in the Coach K madhouse called Cameron Indoor Stadium (not that instate rival North Carolina cared with a 94-81 smack down of the Blue Devils), those other two dudes came to mind.

Bill Belichick and Nick Saban.

Duke’s current players spoiled Krzyzewski’s going-away party so much that the guest of honor barked over the PA system later that “this is unacceptable.” Even so, in Belichick, Saban and Coach K, we’re talking about three 70-something coaches and three legends for the ages, and they all remain productive enough for historians to discuss their contributions from now through the end of forever.

Which begs the question: Who among this trio is the coaching king of kings?

It’s a tie.

Then again, without Tom Brady flinging pixie dust (and touchdowns) through the air with his right arm at quarterback, Belichick has won zero Super Bowls for the New England Patriots. Saban? After his Alabama Crimson Tide crushed Georgia during the SEC Championship Game last season in college football, they collapsed in the clutch to those same Bulldogs in the National Championship Game.

As for Coach K, Duke hasn’t won it all in seven years. Saban spent that stretch winning three national championships while Belichick grabbed two Super Bowl titles.

Maybe Krzyzewski, Saban and Belichick really are equal.

This is for sure: When you combine finances with fame, those three guys have done more for their employers than anybody by a bunch.

That’s coaching or otherwise.

Only the Dallas Cowboys ($6.5 billion) rank higher than the Patriots ($5 billion) in Forbes’ NFL team evaluations. Not coincidentally, Belichick has coached the Patriots for the past 22 seasons, and he has taken the franchise to an NFL-record six Super Bowl victories. Sportico.com also ranks Belichick’s $18 million salary as the highest among coaches in America.

Sounds like Belichick tops the other two.

Except for this: Saban has seven national championship rings overall, including six after spending the last 15 of his 26 seasons as a head coach in college football at Alabama.

According to USA Today, Saban is peerless in his sport with a salary of $9,753,221. That means University of Alabama officials get it. When Forbes determined the three-season average revenue of college football teams in the fall of 2019 before the pandemic, Saban’s Crimson Tide ($134 million) ranked fourth behind Texas A&M and Texas at $147 million and Michigan at $139 million.

So . . .

Saban tops Krzyzewski and Belichick.

Actually, upon further review, let’s stick with the pre-pandemic research by Forbes in March 2021 and switch to college basketball. Only Kentucky ($56 million), Louisville ($53.6 million) and Indiana ($37.5 million) produced more average yearly revenue than Duke ($35.4 million) over the combination of that season and the two preceding ones.

Coach K was down the stretch back then of his 42 seasons at Duke, and he was in the shadow of his fifth national championship overall with the Blue Devils.

While Kentucky’s John Calipari makes more money in total pay than any college basketball coach at $8.095 million courtesy of USA Today numbers, Krzyzewski is close behind at $7.04 million.

There’s also this: Along with Coach K’s national championships at Duke, he led Team USA to three gold medal in the Olympics. That’s eight ultimate titles overall for Krzyzewski compared to seven for Saban and six for Belichick.

Which means . . .

Nothing.

Let’s stick to a tie.